Unique in Some Very Good Ways, and Some Not-So-Good Ways

Here’s something different: a DNA testing company based in India! Unlike most other DNA tests, Mapmygenome’s ancestry, health and wellness, and diet and fitness tests are much more tailored for people of Indian descent than the ones you’d get from many (if not all) other DNA testing companies.

But if you’re not from India, or at least living in India, why would you choose Mapmygenome? There are some surprising advantages to getting your DNA tested by this company. For instance, a free genetic counseling session comes with your report. Plus, the reports themselves are uncommonly detailed and cover some things I haven’t seen elsewhere.

There are also some surprising drawbacks. For example, you have to fill out paper forms to send in with your samples, which you do via FedEx at your own expense. Then, you have to wait a long time to get your results (mine took over seven weeks). You also can’t view your results on Mapmygenome’s website, only as PDFs that you receive via email.

Plus, there are some important genetic traits missing from the bundled Mapmygenome’s reports that are commonly included by other companies. If you want certain information, you may have to order a particular test.

So, is Mapmygenome still worth considering? I’ve taken this company’s ancestry report, one health and wellness test, one diet and fitness test, and one nutrition test. I’ll show you what I got out of these, and then you can decide whether this is the right choice for you.

Taking a Mapmygenome DNA Test

I’ve taken a lot of DNA tests, and I’ve got to say that Mapmygenome was a very different test-taking experience – and not in a good way.

For starters, my test kit arrived in a FedEx package. FedEx tried to deliver it twice, but claimed no one was there to sign for it (untrue). (I was like, “Who is trying to send me a FedEx package from Hyderabad, India?!?”)

Finally, I persuaded them to just leave it at my door. It was a little rumpled and had clearly traveled a long way.

Once I opened it up, I saw the kind of sample collection kit I’m used to, with instructions and a sample vial. I had to rub my cheeks with a cotton swab and put it in the vial.

But inside the FedEx package, I also found another surprise.

Ordinarily, when you take a company’s DNA test, you create an account on its website and enter the codes printed on your sample collection vials; that’s how the company can associate your samples with your account. Then you fill out whatever information about your family and health history, etc. the vendor wants to ask you. At least, that is how I did it with MyHeritage, AncestryDNA, and 23andMe.

Mapmygenome’s website does not have any of those capabilities. So when you swab your cheeks and prepare your sample vial, you have to fill out extensive paperwork to send in with it. These include everything from a customs declaration form to a health questionnaire booklet.

Filling in all these forms was quite tedious and cumbersome.

After my sample was ready and my paperwork was complete, I then had to FedEx it back to India at my expense. It came to around $15.

I sent my sample back on February 25th. I never got an email saying my sample had been received, but on March 10th I got an email saying the analysis was 25% complete.

On March 24th, I got another email saying the lab processing was 50% complete. And on April 10th I got an email saying my results were ready for two out of the three reports I had ordered.

That’s a little more than six weeks, which is longer than most companies, including 23andMe (two to four weeks) and MyHeritage(three to four weeks), but on par with AncestryDNA(six to eight weeks).

Then I got another email on April 15th saying that my final report was ready; so everything took a total of about seven weeks.

My reports arrived in the form of PDFs attached to an email. There was no way for me to view my test results online, on a mobile app, or any other way. That’s fine if I’m on my laptop, but not-so-fine if I’m trying to read the PDFs (sized to print on A4 paper) on my phone.

Other companies have made my reports available online in an engaging, interactive presentation that lets me easily navigate to different parts of my report. And this content resizes appropriately when viewed on a smartphone, and/or can be viewed on a proprietary mobile app.

Anyway, as I give you a tour of the DNA tests that Mapmygenome offers, I’ll also walk you through my reports.

Genetic Counseling Session

The Mapmygenome reports I’ve seen are very detailed and thorough, and cover some topics that I haven’t found on other companies’ DNA tests. So those are reasons enough to consider getting a DNA test from this company.

But what really sets Mapmygenome apart from all other tests I’ve taken is the fact that its health and wellness and diet and fitness tests include a free session with a genetic counselor.

Seriously. I had a two-hour Zoom chat with a trained geneticist named Pooja Ramchandran in which she went over every inch of my test results. She was able to clarify what all of the results meant in ways that were quite helpful.

For example, remember that finding that I’m genetically likely to have trouble learning from my mistakes? According to the counselor, that finding is supposed to be understood within the context of addictive behaviors, along with my higher risk of nicotine dependence, for example. It’s not really about my learning from mistakes in the broader sense.

Pooja spent a lot of time talking to me about my stroke risk and a variety of other health concerns. I had the opportunity to ask her as many questions as I wanted, and I walked away feeling like I have a few topics I definitely want to discuss with my primary care doctor.

After that session, I was emailed a 15-page summary that included tangible action items for me to keep in mind – things to “be smart and watch out for,” “be proactive and enjoy,” “be wise and avoid,” and “participate and monitor.” Here’s the part about stroke:

Okay, so the font is a little bizarre. Still, receiving this cogent synopsis was very helpful in light of everything I discussed with Pooja, and helps me remember what takeaways I should focus on.

Detailed Look at Mapmygenome’s Health and Wellness Tests

Health and wellness tests aim to help you identify your genetic risk of getting a variety of diseases, the likelihood that you may be a carrier for certain other diseases, and additional factors that can affect your health. Mapmygenome has a number of options in this category.

Genomepatri

This test covers your disease risks and carrier risk in uncommonly elaborate detail. It includes disease risks that I haven’t seen in most other companies’ tests, like sudden cardiac arrest and schizophrenia. It does a very good job of explaining each finding, spelling out your risk level relative to the general population, what the implications are, and what you should do if you’re at above-average risk.

It also covers your likelihood of having trouble absorbing certain nutrients, which I’ve seen in some but not all other companies’ health and wellness tests. Plus, you’ll discover your genetic risk of certain other things that are pretty unique, like your likelihood of having elevated prostate-specific antigen levels (if you’re male), nicotine dependence, anxiety, and eating disorders. It even ventures into predicting what type of personality you have.

On the other hand, some common disease risks are oddly not included. For example, if you’re looking for your genetic risk of BRCA1/BRCA2-related breast cancers (which most other companies’ health and wellness tests include), you will have to purchase a diagnostic test separately. Some very common carrier risks are omitted as well, such as Tay-Sachs disease, sickle cell disease, and cystic fibrosis.

I took this test, and I’ll go over my experience and results in more detail. But first, let’s quickly go over other tests Mapmygenome offers in this category.

MedicaMap

This unique test is supposed to predict your sensitivities and responses to more than a hundred different medications, ranging from over-the-counter analgesics, psychiatric drugs, and cardiovascular drugs to antivirals and cancer treatments. (TellmeGen is one of the few others that also offers a pharmacological compatibility test.) Essentially, you’ll know which medications are unlikely to work well for you, and which might be more dangerous for you to take, compared to other people.

Assuming this test’s results are dependable, it could potentially save your life. My Genomepatri test covers some of this same ground, and I’ll tell you what it said about me in just a bit.

SugarGene

As you might guess, this test focuses on your genetic risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Like Mapmygenome’s other health and wellness tests, it comes with a free genetic counseling session. If you’re concerned about your risk, taking this test and talking to the counselor could either set your mind at ease, or help you know what you should do to avoid getting diabetes.

I haven’t seen many other DNA tests specifically for this. But considering that this product only tests for one thing, I find its price (around $130) to be a bit on the high side. LetsGetChecked offers an at-home diabetes test, which measures your current hemoglobin levels as opposed to your genetic predisposition.

Genomepatri Immunity

This test aims to explore your general susceptibility to infection. You’ll learn about the potential health risks that could affect how severely an infection might affect you, your ability to absorb certain important vitamins and minerals, and how well your body’s likely to respond to antiviral drugs.

Among other things, the test is supposed to gauge how much danger COVID-19 infection would pose for you. I find that a bit of a stretch. There are many factors that can affect your vulnerability to this virus, and many are not based on genetics (smoking, for example). So you shouldn’t assume, based on its findings, that you could sail through a case of coronavirus without danger.

DNA OncoScreen

Focusing specifically on your genetic risk of having certain cancers within your lifetime, this test uniquely examines both genetic and biochemical markers to reach its conclusions. It can predict whether you’re more likely than most people to experience leukemia or cancers of the lungs, pancreas, prostate, bladder, colon/rectum, and many more. And again, it comes with genetic counseling to put the findings into perspective for you.

I think DNA OncoScreen could be a valuable test. But it might make sense to take a more comprehensive one – like Genomepatri – so you’ll not only find out about your cancer risk, but also your risk for a long list of other health risks that could be just as dangerous.

Genomepatri with Nutritional Plan

Expanding upon Mapmygenome’s Genomepatri test, this product comes with not only a personalized genetic counseling session, but also a session with a nutritional counselor, plus a personalized nutrition plan tailored to your health and fitness goals.

It will tell you if you’re more likely than most people to be deficient in certain vitamins or have trouble losing weight, and how to tailor your diet accordingly. And it will tell you which types of exercise your body is better suited for or more likely to respond to, so you can get better results from your workouts.

At close to $250, it’s a bit pricey. But for people who take nutrition seriously and want help translating their Genomepatri test results into action, this product may be of interest.

I should add that Mapmygenome also offers standalone nutritional counseling sessions on either a monthly basis (about $40 each) or quarterly (around $65). That expense could add up pretty quickly, but I suspect it would be even more costly if provided by a nutritionist in the US.

Additional Diagnostic Tests

Mapmygenome offers a number of individual diagnostic tests that can help you answer specific questions. For example, there are various BRCA tests, which would be particularly insightful if you have a family history of breast cancer. You and your partner can also select to take a screening test to determine if you are genetic carriers of diseases that could be passed along to your children. Similarly, there is also a newborn screening test that will let you know if your baby is likely to develop any genetic conditions.

My Test Results

I took Genomepatri, Mapmygenome’s basic comprehensive health and wellness test. My results took the form of a 187-page report in PDF format.

The report begins with a six-page summary of my test results:

Details 32 traits like obesity, alcoholism, and vitamin absorption. My report says I’m genetically predisposed to have trouble absorbing several B vitamins and vitamin D, and I have an elevated risk of nicotine dependence (except I don’t smoke, so that’s not an issue for me).

Covers 47 disease risks organized by body system (cardiovascular, endocrine, etc.) as well as cancer. My report says I’m at high risk for stroke and type 1 diabetes, among other things.

Includes your carrier risk for only two congenital conditions: glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency and phenylketonuria. I found this odd. No Tay-Sachs disease? No sickle cell disease? No cystic fibrosis? Those are pretty standard in other tests I’ve taken, and are pretty important. Anyway, the company says I’m not a carrier for either of the two things it looked at.

Each section is presented in a consistent way. For every condition or trait, the report tells me what percentage of the global population is affected, how high my relative risk is, and whether that risk is baseline, medium, or high.

I won’t show you all of my results. But here is what the report says about my cardiovascular disease risk:

As you can see, Mapmygenome has concluded that I’m at high genetic risk for stroke. Seven out of 500 people experience strokes, and according to my genetic markers, the company believes my relative risk is 1.42x (or 42%) higher than the general population.

No other DNA test that I’ve taken has included stroke among its disease risks. If Mapmygenome is right about this, I should be pretty concerned.

I just want to mention one other disease that Mapmygenome says I’m at elevated risk for: schizophrenia. (No, I’m not schizophrenic.)

I don’t doubt that this conclusion is based on some genetic indicators associated with a higher incidence of this disease. But I also happen to know that the causes of schizophrenia are still being widely debated, and even the existence of schizophrenia as a distinct diagnosis from psychosis is being questioned very actively.

So I don’t think there is a strong or even particularly legitimate basis for concluding that someone is at heightened risk of schizophrenia based on a DNA test.

What’s Not in the Report

The disease and carrier risks that are not in my Genomepatri report are as noteworthy as the ones that are. Here are some of the disease risks I didn’t see:

BRCA1/BRCA2-related breast cancer

Hereditary hemochromatosis

Age-related macular degeneration

And here are just a few of the carrier risks that were conspicuously absent:

Tay-Sachs disease

Sickle cell disease

Cystic fibrosis

Sjögren-Larsson syndrome

Nonsyndromic hearing loss

If you are particularly interested in these findings, you will need to order the specific carrier status test.

Now here’s the report’s summary of how I might respond to certain medications:

Mapmygenome says I’m likely to be somewhat sensitive to warfarin, a commonly used blood thinner. That means a standard warfarin dose could be somewhat dangerous for me, and a lower dose would be safer.

I’ll keep that in mind if I ever need a blood thinner – following a stroke, for example.

After this six-page overview, the report then goes into a lot more detail about each trait, disease risk, carrier risk, and drug response. Each item gets one or two pages of its own.

Here are the pages discussing my risk of stroke:

It starts by explaining what stroke is, why it’s dangerous, and what the risk factors are. Then it looks at my own personal risk, and how the company reached this conclusion.

It’s based on three genetic markers: HDAC9, NINJ2, and 4q25. For two out of those three markers, I have the T allele, which has been associated with higher risk. If I had just one T allele, I’d be at moderate risk; having two puts me at high risk; and if I had all three, hoo boy!

I’ve googled these genes, and as far as my limited understanding goes, the scientific consensus does seem to support Mapmygenome’s interpretation.

Finally, this section of the report tells me what I can do to minimize my stroke risk: avoid smoking (I don’t smoke), maintain a healthy body weight (which I do), keep my blood pressure low (which it is), and talk to a genetic counselor (which I did – more on that later).

These examples should give you a sense of what you can expect from a Genomepatri report.

It’s more thorough than most other health and wellness reports I’ve taken, both in the number and variety of topics it covers, and in the depth with which it discusses each one.

At the same time, it’s oddly selective in some areas. If you’re going to look at someone’s carrier risks, why pick only two? Why pick those two? If you’re going to look at drug sensitivities, why only ten? Why those ten?

In Summary

Mapmygenome offers a lot of tests for health and wellness, some of which are more general and some that are more narrowly focused. My Genomepatri report provided me with a lot of very detailed information about my various genetic traits, disease risks, and carrier risks. It included some disease risks that I’ve not seen in any other DNA health and wellness reports.

I would recommend Genomepatri for people who really want to know these things about themselves. It’s probably the most comprehensive health and wellness report I’ve ever received.

However, its coverage of carrier risk was oddly minimal compared to its coverage of disease risk – if you’re particularly interested in this, you’ll need to order the specific report. And its coverage of disease risk had some curious gaps too.You might want to confirm that Genomepatri covers the disease risks and carrier risks that you’re interested in before buying this test.

Keep reading to hear about my free genetic counseling session from Mapmygenome, which expanded upon and added value to my Genomepatri report.

Similar Health and Wellness Tests to Consider

23andMe: Covers your genetic risk of developing 13 different diseases or being a carrier for 44 others. In addition, it looks at eight wellness traits (e.g., genetic weight predisposition) and more than 50 general traits (e.g., hair and eye color).

AncestryDNA: Looks at your risk of developing six different health conditions or being a carrier for three others. And it explores your traits concerning vitamin absorption, caffeine consumption, and lactose intolerance.

Not Too High, Not Too Low

Visiting the “Buy” page of the Mapmygenome website, you’re quickly reminded that this is an Indian company! All prices are listed in rupees, and there’s no way to select a different currency. So I’ll translate based on today’s exchange rate (1 rupee = 0.013 US dollars).

This puts them in the same general league as the combined health and ancestry tests from 23andMe and MyHeritage.

The prices are quite a bit higher than Vitagene’s basic health and ancestry report, but lower than Orig3n’s comprehensive fitness and nutrition bundle.

Mapmygenome also has some much more affordable products, like Smart Sport (less than $50). So if you’re concerned about costs, it’s worth looking through this company’s DNA testing options to see if there’s one that addresses your interests at a price you can live with.

Mapmygenome test kits can be bought in any country and in any currency, and you can pay using all major credit cards as well as a bank transfer.

Questions Easily Answered via Chat

If you have questions about Mapmygenome, your first stop is the company’s FAQ page.

But there aren’t a whole lot of FAQs there. And when I wanted to return my DNA sample to Mapmygenome, it wasn’t clear how to do it. First, I emailed the company:

I was told that Mapmygenome would arrange to have my sample picked up by FedEx.

That didn’t happen.

So I inquired via the chat feature on the company website. Here’s the transcript:

This was the information I needed, and it was service with a smile!

In a separate chat conversation, I asked what countries the company will ship to, what currencies it accepts, and what forms of payment you can use. Here’s how that went:

While the customer service representative was a little vague, and I had to keep pushing for more specifics, I was still able to ultimately get my answers.

This conversation was at 11:20 am in my time zone, which is 8:40 pm in India. When I went back with more questions later, they weren’t answered – maybe because it was too late at that point.

I recommend using the Mapmygenome website’s chat feature to ask questions about DNA testing. The representatives are ready to help – if they’re on duty at the time!

This Company Is Different…In Some Ways That Are Good

When you’re shopping for a DNA test, cost, convenience, and report quality are three major factors to consider. Mapmygenome is in the middle of the cost spectrum compared to other companies. To decide whether the cost is justified, take a look at the other factors:

Mapmygenome is less convenient than most other DNA kits. You have to navigate the company’s fairly primitive website, convert rupees to your local currency, fill out lots of paper forms to send in with your sample, and wait quite a while for your results. That could be a deal-breaker for you. Then you’ll get your report as a PDF, which isn’t as convenient as viewing them on a website or mobile app.

And the company’s ancestry test is pretty useless, at least for people with my ethnic background. The results are inaccurate and the ethnic heritage descriptions seem very basic. But if you’re of Indian background, you might actually find it more accurate than your other ancestry test options!

Mapmygenome’s health and wellness and diet and fitness reports are impressive. They go into a lot of detail about each trait, and put it into perspective for you. And they include a lot of traits not included in most other companies’ reports.

And the free genetic counseling is amazing. I’ve never gotten this service from any other DNA testing company, and my counselor was very knowledgeable and helpful. It’s great having someone explain what your results mean and answer all your questions.

So if you want to take a health and wellness and/or a diet and fitness test, and can put up with the company’s exceptional inconvenience, you’ll be rewarded with an exceptionally thorough set of insights into your DNA.

FAQ

How accurate is a Mapmygenome test?

The accuracy of your Mapmygenome results depends on which specific test you are taking. For example, Genomepatri Heritage – the company’s ancestry test – produced inaccurate results for me, based on what other DNA tests such as 23andMe, AncestryDNA, and MyHeritage have told me as well as what I know about my ancestry. A lot of people who aren’t of Indian descent may have a similar experience.

The cause for its inaccuracy may be due to the fact that Mapmygenome has only collected DNA samples from 3,000 customers, most of whom are probably of Indian descent. The company may just not have collected enough samples from a diverse enough range of customers to be able to get certain people’s ancestry results right.

The good thing about Genomepatri is that it spells out the science that underlies its findings. So when Mapmygenome tells you what it has concluded about your risk for a particular disease, it also tells you what genetic markers and alleles it analyzed to reach that conclusion. And a quick web search will confirm that certain research studies have found a link between that disease and certain alleles.

How does a Mapmygenome test work?

A Mapmygenome test works like most other DNA tests. To collect your DNA sample, you swab the insides of your cheeks with what is basically an enlarged Q-tip (but sterile), put it in the sample collection vial, and mail it back to the company.

Its analysts then sequence your DNA and look at a variety of genetic markers to reach conclusions about your ancestry, disease and carrier risks, and other traits. If those genetic markers display certain alleles and not others, it provides evidence that you’re either likely or unlikely to possess a particular trait. Once Mapmygenome has finished analyzing your DNA, the company compiles a report outlining its conclusions and telling you what they might mean.

But like many other DNA testing companies, most of Mapmygenome’s tests don’t analyze all 25,000 of your genes. It just looks at certain preselected sets of genes that have been tied to various traits, like your risk of a particular disease. There may be other genes that play an as-yet-undiscovered role concerning those traits.

How does Mapmygenome compare to more well-known competitors?

Mapmygenome is quite different from most of the DNA testing companies I’ve tried, like 23andMe, MyHeritage, AncestryDNA, and Vitagene, for instance.

Some of these differences are good, in my opinion. For instance, Mapmygenome’s reports are extremely thorough and detailed. My NutriGene report was 187 pages long! And it covered some disease risks I haven’t seen covered by other companies, such as my risk for having a stroke or being schizophrenic.

Also, my health and wellness test and my diet and fitness test came with a free genetic counseling session, which I found very valuable and which I haven’t received from any other DNA testing company.

On the other hand, there are some distinct drawbacks as well. One of these is the effort involved in submitting a sample. I had to fill out all my registration forms on paper (as opposed to on the company’s website, which is what other vendors had me do). And I had to FedEx my sample and paperwork back to the company in India, at my expense.

Also, while my reports were mostly very detailed, they came to me in PDF format. That’s great for viewing them on my laptop, but not so great for reading them on my phone. By contrast, most other companies let you view your results on the website or mobile app, which is easier to read on any platform.

Finally, while my Mapmygenome report included some disease and carrier risks I didn’t expect to find, it also omitted other disease risks (like BRCA1/BRCA2 breast cancers) and carrier risks (like Tay-Sachs disease) that I did expect to find. If you are interested in particular results, you will have to order those specific tests.

How much does a Mapmygenome test cost?

The company’s most expensive tests, such as MyFitGene (about $250), Genomepatri (about $200), and MyNutriGene (about $180), are fairly similar to other companies’ comprehensive tests.

But some of Mapmygenome’s less expensive products, like Smart Sport, cost under $50, which makes it very affordable compared to a lot of other companies’ tests.

Who should consider taking a Mapmygenome test?

You should consider taking a Mapmygenome test if the prospect of filling out paper registration forms, FedExing your sample back to India at your own expense, and receiving your reports in PDF format doesn’t bother you.

Mapmygenome’s ancestry test (Genomepatri Heritage) would be a great choice for anyone of Indian descent, because it is supposed to be able to differentiate among India’s many ethnicities more precisely than other companies.

On the other hand, if you aren’t of Indian descent, I don’t recommend Genomepatri Heritage, because I found that it did an extremely poor job of identifying my ethnicities.

As for Mapmygenome’s health and wellness test, Genomepatri, I would recommend it if you want a detailed look at your health and carrier risks, nutritional traits, tolerance to certain medications, and a lot more.

In short, whether Mapmygenome is right for you depends on what information you want to know. Make sure you’re clear on what you’re getting from this company’s tests vs. other companies’ tests.

Detailed Look at Mapmygenome’s Ancestry Tests

Ancestry tests are designed to help you learn who you’re descended from and who you might be related to. Mapmygenome has one ancestry test, Genomepatri Heritage.

Genomepatri Heritage

This ancestry test is pretty basic. Like all other tests of this kind, it tells you what your ethnic composition is. Because this is an Indian company, its ancestry test is intended to be much better than other companies’ tests at identifying individual Indian ethnic subgroups.

But if you’re not of Indian descent, your ethnicity results may be less accurate than the ones you’d get from another company. Mine were, at least.

After telling you what Mapmygenome has concluded about your ethnic background, the report gives you some basic information about each ethnic group or region the company has identified.

But that’s basically all you get from this ancestry report.

You don’t get a list of other customers who may be related to you, like you would from 23andMe, AncestryDNA, or MyHeritage (and a lot of other testing companies).

You don’t get information on your maternal and paternal haplogroups based on your mitochondrial and Y-chromosomal DNA, like you would from Living DNA, 23andMe, or FamilyTreeDNA (and others).

Also, Mapmygenome has only tested around 3,000 people’s DNA. That’s understandable from an India-based company that only recently entered the global DNA testing market. But still, AncestryDNA has tested 16 million. 23andMe has tested 10 million. MyHeritage DNA has tested 1.75 million. With a lot more other samples to compare your DNA to, these more well-established companies should be a lot better at identifying where your ancestors came from. And in my case, they were.

Plus, Mapmygenome only breaks the world’s populations down into around 70 distinct regions. That’s better than MyHeritage (42 regions), but a lot less granular than 23andMe (1,500+ regions) or AncestryDNA (1,000+ regions).

Again, if you have family from India, a Mapmygenome ancestry test should be able to be more specific about your ethnic origins than any of those other companies. But if you’re not, your ethnic analysis might not be very accurate. Mine weren’t.

My Test Results

First of all, I should mention that my ancestry report arrived a good two weeks after my other Mapmygenome reports. I have no idea why. But when I finally received this 25-page PDF, all I could do was laugh. Here is what the company concluded about my ethnic makeup:

Here’s what’s wrong with this picture. I’ve taken a lot of ancestry tests. The consensus between 23andMe, AncestryDNA, MyHeritage, and Vitagene is that I’m about 50% Ashkenazi Jewish, 30% Northwest European, 12% Eastern European, and 2-3% East Asian. And this matches everything I know about my family history. (Click the links to read my experience with these ancestry DNA tests.)

If most companies recognize my 50% Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry, and that ancestry is very well documented, then it’s kind of a glaring omission in my Genomepatri Heritage report.

And 25% Egyptian? Not me. My 23andMe report says I’m 0.5% “broadly Western Asian and North African,” so maybe I have a tiny speck of Egyptian ancestry. But 25%? That would basically mean that one of my grandparents is 100% Egyptian, which is 100% untrue.

(By the way, Living DNA made a similar error, saying that I’m 15% from North Turkey, 9% Armenia and Cyprus, and 4% Arabian. My theory is that both Living DNA and Mapmygenome are erroneously reading my Ashkenazi heritage as North African/West Asian heritage. It is quite likely that this is one of the geo regions/ethnic groups missing from the companies’ analysis, so it cannot be read properly.)

This is a pretty typical example of the ethnic heritage content found inside the report.

Setting aside the fact that I have no known Egyptian background whatsoever, I’d just like to point out that this is a very simplistic overview of Egyptian history and culture. It’s basically a Wikipedia entry. Similar content from my 23andMe, AncestryDNA, and MyHeritage ancestry reports felt a lot more thoughtful and robust.

The company did provide this disclaimer at the end of my report:

“Over a period of time, as we process more samples, our reference database may evolve. We may add more number of samples (sic) to the existing ethnic groups or we may add new ethnic groups. When we compare your sample with the updated ethnic groups, your ethnicity estimates might change.” I hope so, for Mapmygenome’s sake!

In Summary

I would not recommend the Genomepatri Heritage DNA test unless you are of Indian descent. I’d say it’s fairly worthless, at least for people who are of Jewish descent. Apparently, we Jews aren’t very well represented in the approximately 3,000 DNA samples that Mapmygenome has collected to date!

Similar Ancestry Tests to Consider

23andMe: My favorite ancestry test. I got a lot more information from this report than I’ve gotten from any other company, including my maternal and paternal haplogroups, Neanderthal ancestry, and hereditary traits. And my ethnicity report seems very accurate based on what I know about my family.

AncestryDNA: Also extremely accurate in the ethnicities department. And through the company’s genealogy service, you can build a huge online family tree that’s chock-full of historical documents; this may be very appealing if you’re exploring your heritage.

MyHeritage: This test is comparable to AncestryDNA, especially with regard to the family tree capability. My ethnicity results from MyHeritage weren’t quite as accurate as those from the other two companies (or from Vitagene, which is also worth considering). Still, MyHeritage is the least expensive of the three.

Not Too High, Not Too Low

Visiting the “Buy” page of the Mapmygenome website, you’re quickly reminded that this is an Indian company! All prices are listed in rupees, and there’s no way to select a different currency. So I’ll translate based on today’s exchange rate (1 rupee = 0.013 US dollars).

This puts them in the same general league as the combined health and ancestry tests from 23andMe and MyHeritage.

The prices are quite a bit higher than Vitagene’s basic health and ancestry report, but lower than Orig3n’s comprehensive fitness and nutrition bundle.

Mapmygenome also has some much more affordable products, like Smart Sport (less than $50). So if you’re concerned about costs, it’s worth looking through this company’s DNA testing options to see if there’s one that addresses your interests at a price you can live with.

Mapmygenome test kits can be bought in any country and in any currency, and you can pay using all major credit cards as well as a bank transfer.

Questions Easily Answered via Chat

If you have questions about Mapmygenome, your first stop is the company’s FAQ page.

But there aren’t a whole lot of FAQs there. And when I wanted to return my DNA sample to Mapmygenome, it wasn’t clear how to do it. First, I emailed the company:

I was told that Mapmygenome would arrange to have my sample picked up by FedEx.

That didn’t happen.

So I inquired via the chat feature on the company website. Here’s the transcript:

This was the information I needed, and it was service with a smile!

In a separate chat conversation, I asked what countries the company will ship to, what currencies it accepts, and what forms of payment you can use. Here’s how that went:

While the customer service representative was a little vague, and I had to keep pushing for more specifics, I was still able to ultimately get my answers.

This conversation was at 11:20 am in my time zone, which is 8:40 pm in India. When I went back with more questions later, they weren’t answered – maybe because it was too late at that point.

I recommend using the Mapmygenome website’s chat feature to ask questions about DNA testing. The representatives are ready to help – if they’re on duty at the time!

This Company Is Different…In Some Ways That Are Good

When you’re shopping for a DNA test, cost, convenience, and report quality are three major factors to consider. Mapmygenome is in the middle of the cost spectrum compared to other companies. To decide whether the cost is justified, take a look at the other factors:

Mapmygenome is less convenient than most other DNA kits. You have to navigate the company’s fairly primitive website, convert rupees to your local currency, fill out lots of paper forms to send in with your sample, and wait quite a while for your results. That could be a deal-breaker for you. Then you’ll get your report as a PDF, which isn’t as convenient as viewing them on a website or mobile app.

And the company’s ancestry test is pretty useless, at least for people with my ethnic background. The results are inaccurate and the ethnic heritage descriptions seem very basic. But if you’re of Indian background, you might actually find it more accurate than your other ancestry test options!

Mapmygenome’s health and wellness and diet and fitness reports are impressive. They go into a lot of detail about each trait, and put it into perspective for you. And they include a lot of traits not included in most other companies’ reports.

And the free genetic counseling is amazing. I’ve never gotten this service from any other DNA testing company, and my counselor was very knowledgeable and helpful. It’s great having someone explain what your results mean and answer all your questions.

So if you want to take a health and wellness and/or a diet and fitness test, and can put up with the company’s exceptional inconvenience, you’ll be rewarded with an exceptionally thorough set of insights into your DNA.

FAQ

How accurate is a Mapmygenome test?

The accuracy of your Mapmygenome results depends on which specific test you are taking. For example, Genomepatri Heritage – the company’s ancestry test – produced inaccurate results for me, based on what other DNA tests such as 23andMe, AncestryDNA, and MyHeritage have told me as well as what I know about my ancestry. A lot of people who aren’t of Indian descent may have a similar experience.

The cause for its inaccuracy may be due to the fact that Mapmygenome has only collected DNA samples from 3,000 customers, most of whom are probably of Indian descent. The company may just not have collected enough samples from a diverse enough range of customers to be able to get certain people’s ancestry results right.

The good thing about Genomepatri is that it spells out the science that underlies its findings. So when Mapmygenome tells you what it has concluded about your risk for a particular disease, it also tells you what genetic markers and alleles it analyzed to reach that conclusion. And a quick web search will confirm that certain research studies have found a link between that disease and certain alleles.

How does a Mapmygenome test work?

A Mapmygenome test works like most other DNA tests. To collect your DNA sample, you swab the insides of your cheeks with what is basically an enlarged Q-tip (but sterile), put it in the sample collection vial, and mail it back to the company.

Its analysts then sequence your DNA and look at a variety of genetic markers to reach conclusions about your ancestry, disease and carrier risks, and other traits. If those genetic markers display certain alleles and not others, it provides evidence that you’re either likely or unlikely to possess a particular trait. Once Mapmygenome has finished analyzing your DNA, the company compiles a report outlining its conclusions and telling you what they might mean.

But like many other DNA testing companies, most of Mapmygenome’s tests don’t analyze all 25,000 of your genes. It just looks at certain preselected sets of genes that have been tied to various traits, like your risk of a particular disease. There may be other genes that play an as-yet-undiscovered role concerning those traits.

How does Mapmygenome compare to more well-known competitors?

Mapmygenome is quite different from most of the DNA testing companies I’ve tried, like 23andMe, MyHeritage, AncestryDNA, and Vitagene, for instance.

Some of these differences are good, in my opinion. For instance, Mapmygenome’s reports are extremely thorough and detailed. My NutriGene report was 187 pages long! And it covered some disease risks I haven’t seen covered by other companies, such as my risk for having a stroke or being schizophrenic.

Also, my health and wellness test and my diet and fitness test came with a free genetic counseling session, which I found very valuable and which I haven’t received from any other DNA testing company.

On the other hand, there are some distinct drawbacks as well. One of these is the effort involved in submitting a sample. I had to fill out all my registration forms on paper (as opposed to on the company’s website, which is what other vendors had me do). And I had to FedEx my sample and paperwork back to the company in India, at my expense.

Also, while my reports were mostly very detailed, they came to me in PDF format. That’s great for viewing them on my laptop, but not so great for reading them on my phone. By contrast, most other companies let you view your results on the website or mobile app, which is easier to read on any platform.

Finally, while my Mapmygenome report included some disease and carrier risks I didn’t expect to find, it also omitted other disease risks (like BRCA1/BRCA2 breast cancers) and carrier risks (like Tay-Sachs disease) that I did expect to find. If you are interested in particular results, you will have to order those specific tests.

How much does a Mapmygenome test cost?

The company’s most expensive tests, such as MyFitGene (about $250), Genomepatri (about $200), and MyNutriGene (about $180), are fairly similar to other companies’ comprehensive tests.

But some of Mapmygenome’s less expensive products, like Smart Sport, cost under $50, which makes it very affordable compared to a lot of other companies’ tests.

Who should consider taking a Mapmygenome test?

You should consider taking a Mapmygenome test if the prospect of filling out paper registration forms, FedExing your sample back to India at your own expense, and receiving your reports in PDF format doesn’t bother you.

Mapmygenome’s ancestry test (Genomepatri Heritage) would be a great choice for anyone of Indian descent, because it is supposed to be able to differentiate among India’s many ethnicities more precisely than other companies.

On the other hand, if you aren’t of Indian descent, I don’t recommend Genomepatri Heritage, because I found that it did an extremely poor job of identifying my ethnicities.

As for Mapmygenome’s health and wellness test, Genomepatri, I would recommend it if you want a detailed look at your health and carrier risks, nutritional traits, tolerance to certain medications, and a lot more.

In short, whether Mapmygenome is right for you depends on what information you want to know. Make sure you’re clear on what you’re getting from this company’s tests vs. other companies’ tests.

Detailed Look at Mapmygenome’s Diet and Fitness Tests

DNA tests in this category attempt to analyze your genetic predispositions around nutrition, weight loss, and exercising, so you can tailor your diet and fitness strategies to work with your body, not against it.

Mapmygenome has quite a few tests in this category. I’ve taken two of them and will show you what they told me at the end of this section.

MyFitGene

This is Mapmygenome’s most comprehensive diet and fitness test. It evaluates your genetic tendencies concerning nutrition, diet, and exercise. It also ventures into other traits like personality, immunity, and certain health risks (and therefore overlaps with Genomepatri).

Like other Mapmygenome tests, it comes with a free genetic counseling session. I’ve taken this test, and will discuss my results after I go over the company’s other diet and fitness tests.

MyNutriGene

Focusing specifically on your genetic traits around nutrition, this test will tell you if there are certain vitamins and minerals you might have trouble metabolizing, and might, therefore, be deficient in.

It also delves into your likelihood of gluten and lactose intolerance, peanut allergies, alcohol sensitivity, caffeine consumption, response to dietary fat, and a lot of other things.

I took it – see my results below. It costs around $130. It’s a really good report; but if I were you, I’d spend the extra $70 and get MyFitGene, which covers so many other things as well.

Smart Sport

This one focuses on your fitness traits, like endurance, muscle composition, and vulnerability to certain musculoskeletal injuries. At under $50, it’s extremely affordable, and should appeal to exercise enthusiasts and athletes who want to optimize their performance.

MyFitGene with Diet Plan

With this option, you get not only the MyFitGene report and genetic counseling session, but also a personalized nutrition plan. It’s around $250 – pretty pricey, but not a bad move for people who are really dedicated to addressing weak points in their nutrition regimen.

My Test Results

I took MyNutriGene and MyFitGene. They had significant overlap with each other (and with Genomepatri, for that matter). So you might not want to take all three tests like I did! But here are my results.

MyFitGene Report Findings

At 45 pages long, this report packs in a lot of information. It starts with a three-page summary of my genetic traits around nutrition, fitness, and wellness.

Basically, it says I’m at moderately high risk of lactose intolerance, reduced antioxidant capacity, and carbohydrate sensitivity. And I’m at high risk of deficiencies in vitamins B6, B9, B12, and D.

The report may be right about my likely lactose intolerance; I’ve never been able to definitively figure out if dairy products disagree with me. But quite a few other DNA tests have concluded that I’m not likely to be lactose intolerant. Go figure.

On the other hand, quite a few other tests have reached the same conclusions about my likely vitamin deficiencies. So Mapmygenome is probably right about this.

Notice: Unlike the Genomepatri report, the MyFitGene report doesn’t discuss how prevalent these traits are in the general population, or how my risk compares to the average person’s.

Mapmygenome says I’m slightly more likely than most people to regain weight quickly after losing it. I’ve gotten similar feedback from other DNA tests.

This report also says I may have some bone and joint problems to look forward to: disc degeneration, osteoporosis, and ankylosing spondylitis (a type of inflammatory arthritis involving the spine and large joints).

Ankylosing spondylitis is more common in men than in women, but usually starts at a fairly early age. So hopefully I’m in the clear for that one.

My report says I may be genetically predisposed to have trouble learning from my mistakes and not making them again. My wife would agree! It also says that I’m at slightly elevated risk of anxiety and eating disorders and migraines, and at extremely high risk of nicotine dependence and hypothyroidism.

And for the record, no, I don’t suffer from anxiety or eating disorders. Yes, I do get migraines. No, I don’t smoke. And yes, I have hypothyroidism.

As with the Genomepatri report, the MyFitGene report then goes into more detail about its findings…but oddly, some of these traits get a lot of attention, whereas others get far less.

For instance, here is the one page devoted to my (charming) personality:

The report says I’m genetically slightly more likely than most people to be resilient, less likely to learn from my mistakes, and more likely to suffer from anxiety and eating disorders.

That’s it. That’s all it has to say. It doesn’t explain what gene markers were used to reach this conclusion, what implications these things have for my life, or even exactly what they mean.

MyNutriGene Report Findings

This 46-page report starts with a one-page overview of the genetic traits that the test explores, then goes into each trait in detail. Just like the MyFitGene report, the MyNutriGene report finds that I’m at moderately heightened risk of lactose intolerance, carbohydrate sensitivity, and antioxidant capacity, and at high genetic risk of deficiencies in vitamins B6, B9, B12, and D.

After this summary, it has an individual two-page section on each of the traits. Here’s the section about my antioxidant capacity:

It says I’m at elevated risk of oxidative stress and cellular damage, which can lead to impaired immunity, premature aging, reduced memory, and heightened cancer risk. Oh goody.

To counteract this genetic drawback, the report suggests I eat lots of antioxidant-rich foods, avoid smoking, get lots of fiber…and eat lots of dark chocolate! I can really get behind that.

This page is interesting too:

The report asserts that I’m highly likely to not feel full the same way most people do. That’s absolutely true – I don’t tend to feel full even when I eat a colossal amount of food.

The report makes a bunch of very good recommendations for how to cope with this tendency, like eating lots of protein, exercising regularly, maintaining good sleep hygiene, avoiding processed foods, practicing mindful eating, and doing yoga/meditating to avoid stress.

These are good tips for pretty much everybody, but for me in particular.

In Summary

The MyFitGene and MyNutriGene reports have a lot of overlap with each other, and with the Genomepatri report. I found Genomepatri to be much more thorough and detailed than MyFitGene and MyNutriGene. If you were to choose only one Mapmygenome test, I’d recommend Genomepatri.

But if all you want to know is how your genes affect your ability to diet and exercise, MyFitGene is pretty good. Where it especially falls flat is in helping you choose an exercise and diet plan tailored to your genes.

Likewise, if all you want to know is what genetic weak spots you might have in the nutrition department, MyNutriGene does a pretty good job of this.

Similar Diet and Fitness Tests to Consider

Vitagene: One test gives you a very user-friendly analysis of your genes involving diet, exercise, nutrition, genetic traits, and ancestry. It includes sample menus and exercise routines tailored to your DNA.

Orig3n: Offers a wide variety of tests exploring individual diet and fitness topics, as well as broader general tests for nutrition and fitness. It also has some pretty unique tests for things like behavior, child development, hair, and skin.

Living DNA: Its “Wellbeing” test covers 14 traits associated with weight management, strength, flexibility, nutrition, lactose and gluten tolerance/intolerance, and related topics. Most topics are done pretty well, but the traits lumped under “weight management” don’t have anything to do with weight management.

Not Too High, Not Too Low

Visiting the “Buy” page of the Mapmygenome website, you’re quickly reminded that this is an Indian company! All prices are listed in rupees, and there’s no way to select a different currency. So I’ll translate based on today’s exchange rate (1 rupee = 0.013 US dollars).

This puts them in the same general league as the combined health and ancestry tests from 23andMe and MyHeritage.

The prices are quite a bit higher than Vitagene’s basic health and ancestry report, but lower than Orig3n’s comprehensive fitness and nutrition bundle.

Mapmygenome also has some much more affordable products, like Smart Sport (less than $50). So if you’re concerned about costs, it’s worth looking through this company’s DNA testing options to see if there’s one that addresses your interests at a price you can live with.

Mapmygenome test kits can be bought in any country and in any currency, and you can pay using all major credit cards as well as a bank transfer.

Questions Easily Answered via Chat

If you have questions about Mapmygenome, your first stop is the company’s FAQ page.

But there aren’t a whole lot of FAQs there. And when I wanted to return my DNA sample to Mapmygenome, it wasn’t clear how to do it. First, I emailed the company:

I was told that Mapmygenome would arrange to have my sample picked up by FedEx.

That didn’t happen.

So I inquired via the chat feature on the company website. Here’s the transcript:

This was the information I needed, and it was service with a smile!

In a separate chat conversation, I asked what countries the company will ship to, what currencies it accepts, and what forms of payment you can use. Here’s how that went:

While the customer service representative was a little vague, and I had to keep pushing for more specifics, I was still able to ultimately get my answers.

This conversation was at 11:20 am in my time zone, which is 8:40 pm in India. When I went back with more questions later, they weren’t answered – maybe because it was too late at that point.

I recommend using the Mapmygenome website’s chat feature to ask questions about DNA testing. The representatives are ready to help – if they’re on duty at the time!

This Company Is Different…In Some Ways That Are Good

When you’re shopping for a DNA test, cost, convenience, and report quality are three major factors to consider. Mapmygenome is in the middle of the cost spectrum compared to other companies. To decide whether the cost is justified, take a look at the other factors:

Mapmygenome is less convenient than most other DNA kits. You have to navigate the company’s fairly primitive website, convert rupees to your local currency, fill out lots of paper forms to send in with your sample, and wait quite a while for your results. That could be a deal-breaker for you. Then you’ll get your report as a PDF, which isn’t as convenient as viewing them on a website or mobile app.

And the company’s ancestry test is pretty useless, at least for people with my ethnic background. The results are inaccurate and the ethnic heritage descriptions seem very basic. But if you’re of Indian background, you might actually find it more accurate than your other ancestry test options!

Mapmygenome’s health and wellness and diet and fitness reports are impressive. They go into a lot of detail about each trait, and put it into perspective for you. And they include a lot of traits not included in most other companies’ reports.

And the free genetic counseling is amazing. I’ve never gotten this service from any other DNA testing company, and my counselor was very knowledgeable and helpful. It’s great having someone explain what your results mean and answer all your questions.

So if you want to take a health and wellness and/or a diet and fitness test, and can put up with the company’s exceptional inconvenience, you’ll be rewarded with an exceptionally thorough set of insights into your DNA.

FAQ

How accurate is a Mapmygenome test?

The accuracy of your Mapmygenome results depends on which specific test you are taking. For example, Genomepatri Heritage – the company’s ancestry test – produced inaccurate results for me, based on what other DNA tests such as 23andMe, AncestryDNA, and MyHeritage have told me as well as what I know about my ancestry. A lot of people who aren’t of Indian descent may have a similar experience.

The cause for its inaccuracy may be due to the fact that Mapmygenome has only collected DNA samples from 3,000 customers, most of whom are probably of Indian descent. The company may just not have collected enough samples from a diverse enough range of customers to be able to get certain people’s ancestry results right.

The good thing about Genomepatri is that it spells out the science that underlies its findings. So when Mapmygenome tells you what it has concluded about your risk for a particular disease, it also tells you what genetic markers and alleles it analyzed to reach that conclusion. And a quick web search will confirm that certain research studies have found a link between that disease and certain alleles.

How does a Mapmygenome test work?

A Mapmygenome test works like most other DNA tests. To collect your DNA sample, you swab the insides of your cheeks with what is basically an enlarged Q-tip (but sterile), put it in the sample collection vial, and mail it back to the company.

Its analysts then sequence your DNA and look at a variety of genetic markers to reach conclusions about your ancestry, disease and carrier risks, and other traits. If those genetic markers display certain alleles and not others, it provides evidence that you’re either likely or unlikely to possess a particular trait. Once Mapmygenome has finished analyzing your DNA, the company compiles a report outlining its conclusions and telling you what they might mean.

But like many other DNA testing companies, most of Mapmygenome’s tests don’t analyze all 25,000 of your genes. It just looks at certain preselected sets of genes that have been tied to various traits, like your risk of a particular disease. There may be other genes that play an as-yet-undiscovered role concerning those traits.

How does Mapmygenome compare to more well-known competitors?

Mapmygenome is quite different from most of the DNA testing companies I’ve tried, like 23andMe, MyHeritage, AncestryDNA, and Vitagene, for instance.

Some of these differences are good, in my opinion. For instance, Mapmygenome’s reports are extremely thorough and detailed. My NutriGene report was 187 pages long! And it covered some disease risks I haven’t seen covered by other companies, such as my risk for having a stroke or being schizophrenic.

Also, my health and wellness test and my diet and fitness test came with a free genetic counseling session, which I found very valuable and which I haven’t received from any other DNA testing company.

On the other hand, there are some distinct drawbacks as well. One of these is the effort involved in submitting a sample. I had to fill out all my registration forms on paper (as opposed to on the company’s website, which is what other vendors had me do). And I had to FedEx my sample and paperwork back to the company in India, at my expense.

Also, while my reports were mostly very detailed, they came to me in PDF format. That’s great for viewing them on my laptop, but not so great for reading them on my phone. By contrast, most other companies let you view your results on the website or mobile app, which is easier to read on any platform.

Finally, while my Mapmygenome report included some disease and carrier risks I didn’t expect to find, it also omitted other disease risks (like BRCA1/BRCA2 breast cancers) and carrier risks (like Tay-Sachs disease) that I did expect to find. If you are interested in particular results, you will have to order those specific tests.

How much does a Mapmygenome test cost?

The company’s most expensive tests, such as MyFitGene (about $250), Genomepatri (about $200), and MyNutriGene (about $180), are fairly similar to other companies’ comprehensive tests.

But some of Mapmygenome’s less expensive products, like Smart Sport, cost under $50, which makes it very affordable compared to a lot of other companies’ tests.

Who should consider taking a Mapmygenome test?

You should consider taking a Mapmygenome test if the prospect of filling out paper registration forms, FedExing your sample back to India at your own expense, and receiving your reports in PDF format doesn’t bother you.

Mapmygenome’s ancestry test (Genomepatri Heritage) would be a great choice for anyone of Indian descent, because it is supposed to be able to differentiate among India’s many ethnicities more precisely than other companies.

On the other hand, if you aren’t of Indian descent, I don’t recommend Genomepatri Heritage, because I found that it did an extremely poor job of identifying my ethnicities.

As for Mapmygenome’s health and wellness test, Genomepatri, I would recommend it if you want a detailed look at your health and carrier risks, nutritional traits, tolerance to certain medications, and a lot more.

In short, whether Mapmygenome is right for you depends on what information you want to know. Make sure you’re clear on what you’re getting from this company’s tests vs. other companies’ tests.